Daniil Trifonov

Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov (dan-EEL TREE-fon-ov)—winner of Musical America’s 2019 Artist of the Year—has made a spectacular ascent of the classical world as a solo artist, concerto collaborator, chamber musician and composer.

An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, he recently added a first Grammy award to his string of honors, winning Best Instrumental Solo Album of 2018 for his Liszt collection, Transcendental. The Times of London calls him “without question the most astounding pianist of our age.”

This fall brings the Deutsche Grammophon release of Trifonov’s Destination Rachmaninov: Arrival, following Destination Rachmaninov: Departure and the Grammy-nominated Rachmaninov: Variations, both also recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. As 2019-20 Artist-in-Residence of the New York Philharmonic, the pianist joins the orchestra for concertos in New York and Europe and gives the New York premiere of his own Piano Quintet. His upcoming highlights also include collaborations with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New World Symphony and San Francisco Symphony; Bach-themed solo recitals in New York, Chicago, Boston and Europe; and a return to Carnegie Hall with fellow pianist Sergei Babayan.

Trifonov recently undertook four major season-long residencies: at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Vienna’s Musikverein, and with the London Symphony Orchestra and Berlin Philharmonic. Other recent highlights include launching the New York Philharmonic’s 2018-19 season, headlining the gala finale of the Chicago Symphony’s 125th anniversary celebrations, and collaborating with such preeminent ensembles as the Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony, London Philharmonic and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He regularly gives solo recitals at venues including Carnegie Hall, DC’s Kennedy Center, Boston’s Celebrity Series, London’s Barbican and Royal Festival Halls, Paris’s Théâtre des Champs Élysées and Salle Pleyel, Brussels’s Palais des Beaux-Arts, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Berlin’s Philharmonie, Zurich’s Tonhalle, Vienna’s Musikverein, Barcelona’s Palau de la Musica, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and Opera City, the Seoul Arts Center and Melbourne’s Recital Centre.

In 2010-11, Trifonov took First Prize in Tel Aviv’s Rubinstein Competition, Third Prize in Warsaw’s Chopin Competition, and First Prize and Grand Prix in Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Competition. Having won Italy’s Franco Abbiati Prize for Best Instrumental Soloist in 2013, three years later he was named Gramophone’s Artist of the Year.

Born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1991, he attended Moscow’s Gnessin School of Music before pursuing piano and composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music.